


The Violence

by idrilhadhafang



Series: Sequel Trilogy Missing Scenes [29]
Category: Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Foreshadowing, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren (Comics), M/M, Missing Scene, Protective Poe Dameron, Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren (Comics) Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:35:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29809212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: After Elphrona, Poe comforts Ben.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Sequel Trilogy Missing Scenes [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931056
Kudos: 2
Collections: Allbingo, Bad Day Collection





	The Violence

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Falling asleep
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was falling asleep that Ben could all but feel the worries of the day catching up with him. Ren’s words, echoing in his head, a last spiteful jab that he’d thrown back at him as well as Uncle Luke after Uncle Luke had beaten him.   
  
_“Hey, kid, are you sure this is the life for you?”_  
  
That was what he’d said. And his face — he had looked so normal. Like he could have been someone’s father. Someone so horribly burned except for his face...  
  
But he’d seemed free. Satisfied with himself. He didn’t seem to worry about the voices in his head, the nightmares that plagued him.   
  
Ren’s voice, in his head. _Course not, kid._ And Ben didn’t know if it was the Voice shapeshifting or...well, anything. He tried counting sabaac cards in his head. _Switch the face of that card..._  
  
***  
  
He was supposed to be in the main hold of the Falcon with Poe. Instead, he was elsewhere, standing over Voe’s body. She’d been stabbed, and the way she looked — it looked like she had been betrayed. Those eyes, staring up at him, accusing him of being unable to save her.   
  
Ben turned towards his doppelgänger in that moment. His doppelgänger, inexplicably dressed in white. In the holos, you’d almost expect the evil doppelgänger to wear black.   
  
“She deserved it," the doppelgänger said, evenly. “She always doubted us. Thought we were monstrous.”  
  
“She didn’t deserve that,” Ben argued.   
  
The doppelgänger ignited his lightsaber. Ben was struck just by how odd it looked, cross-shaped. Unstable, like it was going to explode at any moment.   
  
“You’re still _holding back!”_ the doppelgänger screamed, and Ben was struck by how almost...petulant it sounded. Like a youngling throwing a tantrum. It should have been hilarious. It only sickened Ben more. “Let go. Do you want to know the truth about your family, Ben? They never loved you. You have no place in their story. You have no place in Poe’s story. He’d cast you aside sooner than actually love you.”  
  
“Stop it.” Ben said.   
  
“You can teach him,” said the doppelgänger. A scream in the next room. Poe’s scream. “Break him. Show him how far someone can fall.”  
  
“I can’t do this to him,” Ben said. “Stop. Just stop. He doesn’t hate me.” Even as he saw his family members cut down, it became almost a mantra. “They don’t hate me...”  
  
***  
  
Ben snapped awake just then, realizing that he was safely in his hut. Safe and sound...except for the monsters that plagued his own mind. Was it just stress? Then again, Jedi didn’t usually have stress nightmares. Those nightmares usually meant something.  
  
Was it just unavoidable? Did Ren...want him to do that? Ben shuddered even as he settled back into the sheets, so tired, so exhausted, but afraid to fall asleep. Behind his closed lids lay the monster that people apparently wanted him to become.   
  
But what if he didn’t want to become a monster? Did the Sith start out that way, hating becoming monsters but succumbing anyway?  
  
He shuddered. Called Poe.  
  
***  
  
“You look like shit, Ben,” Poe said gently. “You okay?”  
  
Ben sighed. “Had a nightmare.”  
  
“Oh, yeah. Master Skywalker told me a little bit about Elphrona. That Ren guy...yeah, he’s just a sore loser.”  
  
“How...” Even despite the fact he felt the urge to laugh, Ben was almost terrified to. “You weren’t there.”  
  
“Well, considering Master Skywalker beat them and this guy threatened to blow everyone up...yeah, I’d say sore loser who knows as much lightsaber combat as a drunken tach.”  
  
Ben laughed despite himself. “Poe, that’s not very nice.”  
  
“Yeah, well, I don’t take kindly to schuttas being awful to people I love.”  
  
Ben blinked. Did he hear that right? Then again, Poe basically loved...well, almost everyone. You could count the people he hated on one hand. There was no chance Poe meant what Ben thought he meant.   
  
“You love me?” he said.   
  
Poe smiled. “Well, yeah. I love you, Ben. I’m in love with you.”  
  
There was something about Ben that was terrified. Terrified at the very thought. Exhilarated, but terrified. The whole idea that he wasn’t worthy when his brain was screaming in agony every night, when he’d dreamed about Poe —  
  
“I’m scared of you getting hurt,” Ben said. “I saw myself...hurting you. In a nightmare. And I hated it.”  
  
“It was just a nightmare.” Poe’s face, so full of devotion and belief.   
  
“But what if it isn’t?”  
  
“Nightmares are kind of funny,” Poe said. “They can tell all sorts of lies, and the architecture is difficult to see sometimes. I love you, Ben. It isn’t your fault that your brain’s seen terrible things.”  
  
Ben didn’t deserve this. His praise, his comfort. And yet he needed it anyway. Even as he bit his lip, he found that what Poe had said was something he may not have deserved — but stars, nothing made him feel safer than hearing it.   
  
“I love you, Poe,” he said. “As long as I can, I’ll protect you from anything and everything that could ever hurt you.” _Even myself._  
  
“Same with you.” Then, “Ben, just leave the terminal on. That way, you’ll always know I’m here.”  
  
Ben bit his lip. How Poe could hear at least the tip of the iceberg when it came to the horrors and love Ben still...Ben didn’t know how he was so blessed by the Force to have Poe. But he’d feel safe here, with Poe.   
  
No matter where he went, Poe was always there to lead him home.   
  
He fell asleep, in the glow of the blue light, and for a moment he could feel safe in Poe’s light even if they weren’t in the same room.


End file.
